Internode Lowers the Broadband Bar

Internode's award-winning FlatRate plans have had a dramatic boost in value at no extra cost

Internode's
new entry-level 'Starter' personal broadband plan, offers a great new
'entry level' option for customers moving from dialup to broadband for
the first time:

Internode
offers a 300 megabyte download limit for $29.95 - 50 per cent higher
than the 200 MB level offered by BigPond. In addition BigPond charges
for uploads and downloads, but Internode only counts downloads.

Internode
demands no long-term contract from its customer, whereas the BigPond
plan is for a minimum contracted period of 12 months.

Internode
has set its maximum excess data charges at $30 per month, whereas
BigPond has an unlimited potential for charging excess fees at 15 cents
per megabyte.

Internode
managing director Simon Hackett said the company had redesigned its
broadband plans to make them even more customer-friendly. " We're not using tricky contracts or demanding lock-in to preselect a long-distance voice carrier," he said.

"The
BigPond entry-level offer looks attractive on the surface, but as soon
as you delve deeper, it is fraught with risks for the consumer. For
example, at BigPond, exceeding your download limit by 800 MB - which is
easy to do with broadband - could cost you an additional $120 in excess
charges. Download more and it costs more."

"Internode
has capped excess charges at $30 a month. That means the customer does
not receive any nasty surprises. We also don't have any contract
lock-in period, so our customers are free to change their broadband
plans if they find another plan suits them better."

"Internode's
new plans make the Internet more accessible than its has ever been,
both in terms of speed and cost, without the risks posed by other
companies' broadband traps."

Mr. Hackett said
Internode had launched completely new plans, and existing customers
could choose which plan best suited them, or remain on their existing
plan if they wished. "Our new plan structure has changed so
substantially that we've left it up to our customers to decide what
suits them the best - its entirely their call", he said.